


Cloudy with a chance of MOB

by puckp95



Category: X-Men (Movieverse), X-Men - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mob, Alternate Universe - Still Have Powers, Author is a noob, Charles Is a Big Dorkface, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Erik Has Feelings, Erik being concerned, Erik is a Sweetheart, Honestly Charles What Are You Thinking, M/M, Pining, Poor Erik, mob boss charles is need, will erik ever get pie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-04
Updated: 2018-06-18
Packaged: 2019-05-02 02:31:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 12,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14534754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puckp95/pseuds/puckp95
Summary: You don't choose the mob life, the mob life chooses you. Especially when it comes in the form of a tenacious telepath.





	1. The one where Erik gets mobbed

**Author's Note:**

> Here goes nothing. First fic I am ever going to attempt. Plis have patience and please feel free to tell me how to improve. 
> 
> Thank you! 
> 
> Lol.

It was twelve at night and Erik really should have known better. He was pleasantly buzzed, high on good beer and the opportunity to teach an asshole a lesson. Some sober part of his brain was conscious of the danger of being mugged in this rather shady part of the city. However to be cautious would have meant listening to his rather annoying roommate Emma, and he would go just as far as he could to prove her wrong. To admit that she was right would be admitting defeat. She reminded him of his mother, she was terrifying. 

Erik walked quickly down the alley connecting the main road to his bock, attempting to traverse the distance between his house and the pub as quickly as possible. It had been a waste of an evening. His date had been dull and rather insipid. And that was before he had revealed himself to be a mutantphobic asshat. It had required all of Erik’s not sizeable self control to not choke the bigot (only a bit) on the dog tags he wore around his neck. As it is, he had settled for pushing him right off his barstool by yanking at his belt and buttons. It had been hilarious, he felt warm just thinking about it. 

The soft rain that had been falling all evening had reduced to a drizzle and Erik found himself gleefully jumping over puddles and into some just for the heck of it. He was not that drunk, he reasoned, it was just that putting bigots in their place always put him in a good mood. Plus Emma had been baking before he had left. The promise of warm apple and cinnamon pie after a wet and cold day was rather uplifting. The neighbourhood was quite at this time of the night. Its usual hubbub of street shops and vendors had given way to narrow streets. The buildings were low, constructed very close to each other, and very susceptible to the wiles and accidents of the mutants who lived there. It wasn’t much, but it was home. A place where they could be themselves despite efforts by the government. As it was this part of the city was given a wide berth by the officials, they reasoned it was an attempt to give the mutants more autonomy. Erik knew that it was utter bullshit. As it was the crumbling footpaths and peeling paint on the buildings were a sign of neglect. They had noone to look after them but their own.

Lost in his thoughts as he was, he almost didn’t notice his powers buzzing at the periphery of his mind. He could sense metal. Guns! Moving towards an alley not more than five hundred metres to his right. Fuck, he had to get away from here. It would not bode well to get caught up in a mob war or worse a police chase. Before he could form the very sound decision to run from whoever it was, his mind was assaulted by a need to help. Before he knew it, he was running down the networks of thin alleys, leading deeper into the labyrinth of small buildings. He could feel the guns moving parallely just a few blocks across. Fuck, what was happening. Erik’s legs seemed to have developed a mind of their own as he reached a small clearing, a makeshift parking at the back, populated with a few cars. A presence seemed to unfurl in the back of his mind, very fuzzy and very pleased. He could feel something shifting through his memories dizzyingly fast, sending forth bursts of genuine delight. Before he could process what was happening, he could feel 5 guns moving towards him at an alarming pace. As soon as the men bearing said guns burst into his view from the opposite side, he felt his powers working on their own, twisting the metal of their weapons into misshapen shapes. 

“Fuck! He is a mutie..” one of them shouted. 

Taking advantage of the temporary disarray, Erik quickly felt out for any metal on the body of his assailants and yanked as hard as he could, throwing the men hard against the back wall of a building, where they crumbled. Erik drew in a long bracing breath. There was a strange tugging sensation in his head that drew him towards a dumpster not far off from where he was standing. To its side he saw a small man slumped weakly on its side. He looked injured, his hair was matted together with what seemed like blood.Erik bent down to examine him more closely and almost jumped back in surprise when the man opened his eyes. They were very blue. The presence in his head stirred again, “Hello, I am sorry my friend, I am deeply grateful for all you have done, I have done, through you..doesn’t matter I suppose, but we need to get out of here”. A pleasant and slurred, but very British voice sounded in his head. What the fuck, this man was a telepath, he had moved him here like a…”yes yes very fitting and I do apologise, but we really need to move. I can feel those men getting up”. And before Erik could let himself be overpowered by concern and anger, he was moving again, picking up the surprisingly small, he was interrupted by an indignant mind yelp, up in his arms and running . He could feel a sharp pain at the back of his head “aah, I am sorry it is difficult to control what I am projecting right now”. It was rather disconcerting he mused as he ran, and rather ridiculous, that he always begrudged Emma reading his thoughts when this person had violated, the mental presence winced, his mind so completely. 

“I am sorry my friend, I don’t usually do this, but it seems that we have no other choice. If those men catch me again, we won’t be safe”. 

“Who the fuck are you?” Erik snarled, “why the fuck should I not just drop you on your ass this minute! ” 

“For one, you can’t, my body can’t possibly withstand any more abuse tonight” was the rather miffed answer. “And don’t you always go on about helping your fellow mutants yada yada with that horribly incorrigible passion of yours?”

“Let me go and we will see, when I can make that decision for myself” he was pissed now. Who was this..loon to make judgements about his beliefs.

His only answer was a rather dour silence. 

They finally reached the main road, Erik’s hand burning with the weight of the man in his arms.  
“You have a rather firm body” he felt his forearms being gropped as said man attempted to nuzzle into Erik’s chest. The words were slightly slurred and fond.Was he being hit on by a drunk psychopath? “Oh darling I am offended, however yes if you will, you can control metal, I have a metal bedframe. We should attempt to explore the extent of your powers, for science of course...You are not even listening to me, how rude!!”

This was bizarre, it was beyond bizarre, this man was crazy “I beg your pardon, let me know how sauve you are when you have been pumped with god a cocktail of drugs” the voice petulantly interrupted. Erik felt a strange reaching out sensation as the presence expanded, fixated, and bubbled joyfully, “that would do perfectly!!”

 

And Erik felt himself pulling taxi a kilometre away, freezing it midway, and moving it towards him with surprising dexterity. He could barely hold back his surprise, he didn’t even know his reach stretched so far. “Oh my friend, your powers are truly extraordinary, just potential!” Erik would have preened if not for the source of said compliment. The presence just seemed amused.  
Suddenly he saw a taxi rounding the bend and speeding towards them. The poor driver could be seen screaming right until the time the taxi stopped right in front of them and the doors swung open. 

“Please, I don’t know what happened, I didn’t do anything, I didn’t see….” and he fell slumped down the street, snoring gently.

Erik watched the whole scene unfold in front of him completely nonplussed. He was now a criminal. It wasn’t enough that he had picked up a fight with what seemed like a gang, he was now stealing a car. Emma would never let him have a slice of pie now.

“Oh so overly dramatic Erik, this is healthy for you. You are too uptight, come now get me in….Oh leave the man be, the pavement is just right, he will wake in an hour, he is dreaming of...oh, things you would rather not know.”

And that is how Erik found himself driving a stolen taxi, speeding out of town, feeling slightly high and very confused. The presence at the back of his mind seemed to be slumbering, much as the man himself seemed to have curled himself up in the next seat. His thoughts still felt blanketed but they seemed much more his own. And burgeoning up in his emotions was panic, loads and fuckloads of it. 

“Shhhh” a mental hand seemed to swipe over his mind, brushing away his fear and anxiety.  
“Just a few more hours” What?????? He could feel his fear mounting again, they had already been driving close to an hour. 

“Could you please get out of my head?”

“I am sorry darling, but it is of utmost importance that I reach home. I am pretty sure that my captors are tracking us as we move. It wouldn’t do for either of us to be caught. I will make it up to you, I promise, as much pie as you want. Forever.” The voice seemed both loopy and distant. Erik gazed at the man next to him, who for all purposes seemed dead to the world.  
He was small, pale and surprisingly beautiful. With his startling blue eyes and rather red lips, he seemed to be an exercise in primary colours. If it were a bar..“Thank you, for the record I think you are really pretty too” the voice in his head sounded almost smug. Erik pushed away the thoughts rather disgruntled. He would be damned before he found this overbearing, smug asshole with no ethics, attractive.

“Ouch! I have been drugged dear, it is all I can do to maintain my mental presence” the voice sighed, all of a sudden sounding contrite, “I do apologise, if there was any other way I would not have resorted to this, but there isn’t.”

Erik could feel the conviction of his words inside his head but it did not mean he could trust the man. However helpless as he was, he had no option. If he were to die tonight, Emma would wear a smug I told you so grin, for the rest of her life. The thought rankled. 

He realized belatedly, that he was making no sense. 

“I promise I do not mean you any harm. As soon as we reach the estate, I will arrange transportation for you, and you can go back home!”“It is the shock, you will be fine. I am Charles btw” the voice seemed to be expecting a reply. He merely grunted in reply. “

There was complete silence for several minutes. Erik concentrated upon driving, intent on ignoring the rather presumptuous, arrogant and entitled presence in his head.

“Ouch!”

“Who are you anyway? Why were those men after you? Getting caught up in a mob turf war and then being mind controlled by a high telepath and taken captive was not part of my evening plans, so forgive me for not wanting to talk to you. Why do you want to talk anyway? Some perverse reverse Stockholm Syndrome?”

He could distinctly feel the presence sulking in his head. It seemed so petulant that Erik almost laughed. 

They drove on in silence for the next hour or so. Erik caught up in the monotony of driving and exhaustion. The road was dark and the trees on the roadside passed by in a blur. He could see no lights in the distance as they moved further towards god knows where. It was strange, Erik surmised, his mind knew where to go, but he didn’t. The presence in his head was slumbering. A soft and rather warm ball at the back of his head. It was disconcerting how comfortable he was with it. He would be angry, tomorrow perhaps, when he could summon the right emotions. If there is a tomorrow though. He had no idea who Charles was and his powers were simply terrifying. If he could control Erik so completely when he was this weak, he did not intend to find out who he was at his best. He could only hope that Charles would not turn out to be a psychopath or a killer. 

Caught up as he was in his ruminations, he almost did not register the fact that there were large hunks of metal...cars! Fuck!! Moving towards him rapidly. His alarm seemed to wake the sleeping Telepath, “What is it? Shit! Let me see, fuck I can’t seem to sense them.. Erik we need to get away, if they catch us...” 

He pushed down the accelerator and the car sped up running down the smooth road without much resistance. “We are close, turn at the next point, no don’t slow down, they wouldn’t dare follow” his mental voice was interrupted with a yelp as he spend around the curve of the road rather steeply, it was his powers that kept them from becoming road kill. “Jesus your power comes in handy, are you quite satisfied with your job?” even through the nonchalance Erik could feel the strain in Charles’ voice. He was however not in a mood to pretend, he snarled back at him viciously in his head. A look in the rear view revealed that the cars were close enough to be visible now. What was frightening was that Erik could see only 2 of the 6 cars he had sensed. The other three were following from a distance, taking parallel routes till they merged….fuck! A car, a monstrous rover seemed to be coming over the fields surrounding the road, while another was coming from the other side. If he didn’t hurry he would be cut off completely, he pushed harder down on the acceleration, ignoring the screeching tires, till he could feel a tiny mental cylinder moving towards them entirely too fast, and before he could even process or deflect it, it hit their car’s tire. The car thrown off balance completely swerved off the road in a fury of metal and speed. He could feel Charles’s anxiety in his head, “I am so sorry Erik, I should not have dragg..” He tried to control the momentum of the car, attempting to slow it down as they skid off road. He succeeded briefly before they slammed into a huge tree, throwing them forward, he heard a sickening crack as Charles’ limp head hit the dashboard despite the seat belt. He barely had time to register the searing pain that came with it, before it blanked out and he was thrust physically and mentally back into his seat. He felt, despite the accident, a clarity that was alarming. His head was blissfully empty of the Telepath’s presence. The windscreen had completely cracked, but it had not shattered. Thank god for his intensive training with metal as a child. The only time he would be thankful for that torture. He could feel the buzzing of metal coming towards them rapidly. He had to get out. He quickly pulled out his seat belt, pushing open the ruined door of the car. He felt slightly unstable on his feet, blinking blindly in the sudden headlight of a car that had appeared suddenly from his right. Before he could draw on his power and crumble the shit out of it he heard a pop, smelt nitrogen and felt a sharp pain at the back of his head and he fell down unconscious. 

 

When he next came to, he was sitting in an empty, sterile room, brightly lit with white walls, bound to a chair tightly with ropes. If he weren’t terrified, he would be amused. He felt around for metal but couldn’t find any. Even a slight scan made him groan because of the pain in the back of his head. His chair was wooden, the door however was metal. He grinned. He was going to get out. Before he could figure out a plan however, the door swung open and two mutants marched inside. One was a woman with blue scales, red hair and yellow eyes, the other looked like the Disney version of Satan. He was both intimidated and impressed. The woman moved towards him quickly, “awake are you?” and hit him in the jaw with considerable force, ouch. She then proceeded to take him and pull him by his collar, “what the fuck did you to Charles you asshole!” and moved to hit him again, before she was restrained by the red dude. “Calm down Mystique, he is of no use to us if he can’t talk”. However while he said this, his tail moved and wrapped itself around Erik’s throat. “If you want to die quickly, you will answer us, what is Trask up to now? Why does he need Charles and why the fuck were you bringing him here?” Erik attempted to rouse himself enough to answer him, but the way the two were staring down at him, with ice cold hatred, fucked up his brain. “My name is Erik, I don’t know who Trask is..” Mystique scoffed, and the tail around his neck tightened, he went on, “I didn’t even know who Charles was before today, I was just walking back home when he suddenly took over my head, made me rescue him and drive him here, while being extremely flirtatious and petulant the entire way”. At this Mystique and Hell Boy’s expressions morphed from outright hostility to incredulousness to exasperated relief. “Sounds like Charles alright” Mustique said dryly, “except he is more discerning about his use of power”. “He was being chased, I don’t think he had much choice” Erik heard himself defending him, and then stopping in surprise. Mystique look at him with an appraising look in her eye. “How did you get away then, I don’t imagin...?” “I can control metal” he interrupted, “that gave us the necessary advantage to steal the car and get away”. 

“You are a mutant!!!!” Mystique exclaimed, even Azazel seemed to be more at ease now. “Why didn’t you say so!”

“I would imagine because we socked him both times before he said anything” 

They both looked rather sheepish, and Erik fought back relief that overpowered his general annoyance. “Does it make a difference” he asked her?

“Of course it does!! It means you are not one of Trask’s little fuckers” she cooed, “what can you do?” 

“I can manipulate metal, magnetic fields, listen can you please untie me? I would really want to go home” 

“That is impressive!” Mystique winked at him, while Azazel said “No, I am afraid not, it’s not safe for you to go back anyway tonight. Plus we need to collaborate your story with Charles and figure out what to do with you”. Erik could feel his heart sinking, he had walked into the set of Godfather.  
“Oh don’t look like that Erik, we can untie you” Mystique grinned at him, “and you can have some pizza..” she looked at Azazel questioningly, and he gave her a slight nod. “And I will go get Hank, he can look at all these cuts and bruises you have, sorry about the last one” she said sheepishly. She then left the room, leaving him with the silent lobster-monkey-demon-man. 

“I am Azazel” he said by the way of conversation, “I am sorry I knocked you out!”. If Erik wasn’t so tired and exhausted he would have had a cutting retort ready for him. As it were he was grateful he was still alive. 

They sat in awkward silence for a few minutes, till Mystique returned with a tall gangly boy in toe. “Erik this is Hank, Hank this is Erik, he saved Charles” she snorted to herself, “more like Charles used him to save himself!” Hank looked at Erik intently from behind his glasses, “he was in your head?” Erik nodded slightly, “do you feel okay? How long was he there for?” he asked

“I have a bit of a headache that is all, and it feels like I am a little detached from everything”

Hank looked satisfied as he got down to work, setting down his box of medicine, dabbing and cleaning cuts to his face. “Well that would be a mixture of the psionic exposure, shock and trauma” he paused “and this rather majestic lump at the back of you head”. 

Erik let himself be manhandled (checked for concussion) by the doctor and fought against the urge to nod off. He could distantly hear voices as Mystique and Azazel traded easy banter. 

“There, you should be fine by morning. Plenty of fluids and rest” Hank said, finally pulling away from him, “where is he to sleep?”

His two captors shared looks, finally Mystique shrugged, “we can let him out, we can get him bedding here”. “Good” Erik thought, he could imagine nothing better than curling up and dozing off, as Azazel disappeared with a pop. 

He saw Hank from the corner of his vision, removing something small from his pocket, and before he could summon the energy to ask him about it, he felt a sting on his left forearm. 

“Sorry” he said as Erik hissed, “can’t have you sneaking off” 

He felt truly and completely pissed but before he could make his displeasure known, he was drifting off. His eyelids felt too heavy and the chair was nice and comfy…….


	2. The one in which Erik gets miffed at the Spaniel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Erik wakes up and is most displeased. Idk what's wrong with Charles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Emily_ani, light of my life, I am sorry Charles is an asshole and thank you for the fics xD 
> 
>  
> 
> I will hopefully be able to update once every few days. Thanks for reading :D I promise Erik will not be drugged or mind controlled in the next few chapters xD

Erik woke up feeling extremely out of sorts, what time was it, he had to go for his run. His body felt like crap. Urgh, maybe he would lay off alcohol for sometime. He opened his eyes, his surroundings were pitch black, what time was it. He tried to reach for his night light as he waited for his eyes to adjust, instead of his bedside table he felt cold floor and fuck, he sat up with a jolt. He winced his pain as the memories of last night came back in a rush, exacerbated by the bump on his head. Shit shit shit shit!!!! He had to get out, he tried standing up, feeling a little dizzy as he did. His throat was parched and his head throbbed. Goddamn it, this was real. It wasn’t a messed up dream. The door was metal he remembered, he could always yank it out and attempt an escape, but his captors were also mutants. It would be a huge risk, he didn’t know what they could do, but he knew he had to do something. He glanced around the room, it was empty save for his chair and the bedding he had been sleeping on. There were no windows, he didn’t know what time it was. Hopefully Emma would notice and care enough to call the police. He dismissed the thought with a snort, as if the authorities would ever waste resources on helping a mutant. 

He would wait then, try to figure out what they intended to do with him. At the first opportunity he would escape. Hopefully before Charles woke up and completely ruined his plans. He sat back down on the bed, trying to catalogue and feel all the metal he could feel around him. If he didn’t escape, he would bring down the house on their heads. 

He must have dozed off because when he woke up next, it was to Hank shaking him slightly by his shoulders. The lights were on and he blinked rapidly as he tried to adjust to it. “Good morning sleeping beauty, evening really. Had a good nap? Hank is here to wake you up with his kiss of true love” Mystique’s voice came from behind him, she laughed at her stupid joke while Hank jumped away from him in confusion and acute embarrassment. 

Erik ignored her, concentrating on getting back his bearings, the throbbing in his head was worse and he felt vaguely nauseous. “Here” he looked up to see Hank offering him a glass of something green, “electrolytes” he said by way of explanation. “You have been out for nearly 8 hours now, you need to eat and drink”. He felt a plate of cold pizza and muffins being shoved at him by Mystique. Erik looked at the proffered food in confusion, “this is all we have I am afraid, the kids get slightly wild when Charles isn’t around”.

The rather strong aroma of the food turned his stomach and he heaved. “Oh fuck, he is going to be sick! Hank do something, get a bucket!!!!!” 

His stomach cramped, and his eyes watered as he gagged. He felt hot and rather woozy. Thankfully for Mystique however, nothing came out. It would have served her right if something would have. 

“Drink something Erik, you are dehydrated”, he hastily gulped down the glass of liquid, almost sighing in relief as it soothed his dry throat. Belatedly he realized someone was stroking his back in a creepily comforting way. “Fuck!” he croaked out.  
“Lets get him out, maybe some fresh air would help him” he heard Mystique suggest, “can you stand up?” she asked?

Erik nodded, taking the support of her offered hand to get up. The ground moved very unsteadily underneath his feet. “Come on, this place reeks of sweat a little”

He took step after step, this could be his chance to escape. He tried to act a little more unsteady on his feet as he was led up. Maybe if they thought he was already indisposed, they would be less inclined to drug him again. Not that he had to put in a lot of effort, he still felt very green and his stomach lurched with every step. They finally reached the top of the stairs, and Erik was greeted with the light of a dying sun that came in through huge french windows. He felt like he had gone back in time. He was in a huge hallway with wooden panelling and carpeted flooring. Were those tapestries that he saw on the wall? “Where are we?” he managed to choke out. “The west wing”, came Hank’s reply, “we are taking you to the kitchen, you need to eat something that is not pizza” he said and glared at Mystique who shrugged. Erik stumbled along, trying not to stare at the furnishings, “did you people murder Mr Darcy and steal Pemberley?” he was awarded by a rather loud snort from Mystique, “wouldn’t that make Charles Mr Darcy?” she said and started laughing as if it were the funniest thing ever, “imagine him being a gentleman”.

She was still laughing as they reached the kitchen, it was rather cosy Erik noted in surprise, with a small table in the corner. “Come on, here you go, please try not to fall off” she put him rather firmly on a chair, “or murder us with the cutlery, Moira would be terribly put out”.  
Hank in the meantime was checking his pulse, and noting his temperature. “Did you by chance have anything alcoholic before I injected you?” he asked?

“Maybe a few pints of beer” Erik replied, “and maybe a few glasses of scotch”.

Hank looked at him bemused, “that explains it then” he sighed. He got up and got him a bottle of water, “please finish it all”. Meanwhile, Mystique returned with a hunk of bread and soup. “Here” she shoved it in his face, “before you die and Charles pouts”. 

Erik looked up at her for a moment, and she stared right back “eat!”

For a minute he was tempted to throw the soup right in her face, but then the memory of her right hook stopped him. He would get his revenge when he didn’t feel like a newborn deer. Huh.

“Who are you people?” he finally asked as he felt less queasy, “why am I still here?”

“We” Mystique replied with a flourish, “are the Brotherhood!” she ignored Erik as he choked on his soup, “well the X-men if you will, but no one really uses that.”

“So you are the mob!!” he finally managed to get out in between coughs. Hank wordlessly passed him a bottle again.  
“Guilty” Mystique grinned, “and you are here because you are sick, we will let you go as soon as we can be sure of your safety. You helped Charles after all” she beamed at him. 

“Go on” she thumped him on his back, “eat! I will let our illustrious leader know you are awake, if he doesn’t know already”. 

He ate slowly, the food actually settling his stomach. He was left alone he realised, both his keepers had obviously felt that he was too sick to attempt an escape. Good. He finished the last of his bread and soup, he was rather hungry, and it was the least that they could do after kidnapping him. He felt out the main gate across the grounds, they were a good five hundred metres away. He could feel the car from last night somewhere in the opposite direction, he could...no, a car was way more obtrusive than a person. He would see what he could do once he reached a road. He got up and looked out the kitchen window, they were on the ground floor, he could jump out and run across the field within a few minutes. As he prepared to jump out, one foot already over the ledge, a smooth voice interrupted him, “Aah my friend, I really don’t think that is the best idea”.

Erik whirled around so fast that he almost snapped his neck. “You!” he snarled.

“It would appear so” Charles said, sounding rather amused. “If you wish to leave, I believe propriety demands that you use the front door, but we do encourage people to be themselves here, so if that is what you wish to do, you may” 

There was, Erik reflected, a moment in everyone’s life, when common sense became a luxury. It never felt as good as anger anyway. It was in that moment that Erik Lehnsherr stomped up to the smirking man with a bandaged head, leaning against the kitchen door in a rather ridiculous cardigan, and punched him right in the face. “Mob that you asshole!!!”

The punch was rather light all things considered, but it was enough that Charles’s head snapped back, and Erik paused in horror at what he had done. He had pissed off another mob group, his life was officially over. 

“I deserved that I guess” Charles startled him out of his reverie, “Moira told me that I should have led with an apology, but well” he smiled sheepishly. “Lets do this again, I am Charles Xavier, I apologize for my conduct yesterday..and today, welcome to my house” and he stretched out his hand.

Erik stared at the blue eye menace completely nonplussed, “I just punched you”

“What excellent observation, yes you did!”

“And you aren’t going to kill me?”

“Where would you get such an absurd notion from?”

“You are the mob”

“With morals” he smiled brightly, “ an important distinction. We are outside the law because we have to be!”

“Like you had to kidnap me”

“It was the only option!!!” Charles’s smile faltered.

“For whom, your sorry self?”

“For all of us!”

Erik snorted, and Charles looked outraged, “my escaping yesterday was vital for the mutant cause, far above your hurt feelings”.

Erik drew in a long breath, he was going to punch him again. But before he could, he was interrupted by the entry of a brown haired woman. She looked at him dryly, “really Charles, I thought you were supposed to apologise and not further antagonise the man”. 

“I did! He refuses to understand!!”

“You took over my head, got me entangled in some bloody mob war, made me drive you all the way here without my fucking consent, I have been knocked out the last 8 hours, I have been abused and drugged and my car crashed and I fucking stole a car and I am here in a psychopath’s kitchen having soup and small talk, and I am supposed to be understanding??? Go fuck yourself!” he seethed. He was slightly delirious at this point but he couldn’t give a damn. 

The woman eyed him with amusement as Charles gaped at him rather comically. “What?” Erik snapped? 

The floppy haired spaniel merely spluttered. 

“I want to leave” he demanded as he looked up at the woman, “it is almost night, everyone will be worried”.

She glanced at Charles, who sighed deeply and nodded. “Come on then” she said, leading him out the door. “I am truly sorry” he said, as Erik stalked out completely ignoring him. 

Moira, as the lady introduced herself, was efficient and brusque to say the least. In under fifteen minutes, Erik was on his way in his borrowed car with his phone and belongings returned. He had received over 5 missed calls from Emma, shit, she never called. This was dire. He called her only to have his ears chewed off as he attempted to make up some excuse. By the time he was done, his headache was back. He followed the gps on his phone, he were atleast 60 kilometres from the city. Fuck. 

Before leaving, Moira had threatened him very sweetly with repercussions if he ever tried to talk about what he had seen while with them. He was to forget everything. As if he would want to remember anything in the first place. He had left without saying goodbye to any of his other captors? Acquaintances? He was going to pretend that this night had never happened. He would especially forget the sorry look on Charles’s face as he had stalked past him, or the warmth of his mind, so different from Emma’s crystal and sharp presence. Urgh. If he had his way, Erik would never have to see Charles again.


	3. The one in which Charles is a child

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry guys, exams suck. I am however done now and should be more regular with updates. Urgh.
> 
> Anyhow, please enjoy. Constructive criticism would be very welcome. 
> 
>  
> 
> I hope you have finished your coffee by now Emily person.

Well that had gone well, Charles sighed as he walked away from the window as Erik’s car sped out the estate’s premises. His nose throbbed a little as he took his seat, a very pertinent reminder of his fuck ups of the previous night. He had succeeded in violating all his personal codes to a disastrous effect, nevermind that it had been the only option. Even now he could feel the enticing thrum of Erik’s mind in the distance, fading rapidly. It had been a mistake, delving too deep into it, he was finding it difficult to keep out. It was ridiculous really, this forced intimacy had made him behave like he knew Erik, he couldn’t help being familiar with him or ribbing him or wanting...no, he would not follow that line of thought. He had unwittingly dragged Erik into a world he didn’t understand, the last he could do was keep him from getting embroiled any further. For now, he had to find out a way to deal with Trask. 

The next day had gone by in a flurry of activity, it was only by late afternoon that Charles found himself free. He headed to the kitchen to make himself a cup of tea, trying to get away from the flurry of agitated voices that were still coming from his office. The morning had been spent compiling resources. There had been numerous reports of mutants that had gone missing in the past few months, it was really unsurprising that the police authorities had dismissed the cases. The Brotherhood had been trying to trace them down for months, but they mostly just disappeared into thin air. So when Charles had caught a hint of secret facilities and experiments and muties from the mind of a very drunk man in the Hellfire club, he had jumped at the chance. He had gone to rather egregious depths to get himself kidnapped by the these assholes. The plan was to get in and out, hopefully with the rescued mutants. What he had been unprepared for was the proficiency of his captors. He had been knocked down and then injected with numerous drugs which seemed to be aimed at suppressing his telepathy. However luckily for him and unluckily for them, they had obviously not succeeded in perfecting the them and had grossly underestimated the extent of his abilities. But as it was he had barely managed to escape, managing to brush over only a few minds, before alarms had started blaring all over and he had to run. What little information he did manage to steal promised the existence of more facilities spread all over the country. Atleast this one did not have any “test” subjects. The head researcher had been thrilled to have Charles. 

He sighed as he reached and open the cupboards, and pulled out a box of loose leaves. Sitting near the window with his cup, he inhaled deeply. He knew humans had the tendency to be cruel and suspicious at the best of times, he had touched enough minds to understand that. However it still astonished him, the cool rationale behind these actions. These men, had genuinely looked upon him with cool detachment bordering on hatred, he had not been accorded the dignity of being human. He was a perverse parody, at best an aberration that disturbed the proper functioning of society. He and people like him were a danger, they had to be understood, and purged. It was moments like these that told him that all their actions were worth nothing. Hate, was entirely too powerful a force to content with. He was fortunately saved from continuing down his line of thought by the rather rambunctious entry of the younger members of the group.   
“There you are you old fart, I knew I would find you here brooding!!” Raven grinned at him as she thumped him on his back, “up up up, we are going out for icecream”. Charles looked up at her completely unimpressed, “excuse me...” but he was interrupted by Alex as he dragged down a chair and sat opposite him, “oh come on boss, we have to celebrate your homecoming….in one piece!!”  
“Plus”, Jean interjected, “you owe us” she glared at him, “you scared the bloody hell out of us”.   
Charles looked up at them, feeling a smile curling his lips as a feeling of warmth washed over him. It was ridiculous he surmised as he followed the children out of the room, accompanied by loud whoops and a great deal of pushing. What was hate confronted with love? 

 

X

 

Erik was decidedly having a bad day. The previous night had left him drained, dazed and not a little disturbed. Emma had been furious, she had demanded to know where he had been and he had no response. He was also inconveniently haunted by very blue eyes looking up dolefully at him. So what if he had punched him. He deserved it. It was a violation in every respect.   
That was only part of it. Erik had heard the name of Trask mentioned over the network, why would he kidnap Charles? Mob war perhaps, but Charles had said something about the mutant cause at large. Perhaps it warranted a little looking into. But now was not the time. His desk was swamped with projects and complains that he had to handle. When he had started working at the Mutant Welfare office as an architect, he had no expected to become responsible for every petty complaint that came by their way. He had over the years acquired the reputation of getting things done. And it was for this reason he was sitting reading appeals against unfair ejections from jobs and flats, and the odd guardianship issue instead of making plans for the reconstruction of the old community centre. This was a mess. The mutant cause had become part of political discourse but there was still little improvement, they were alone. Humans would never accept them, they could barely accept differences in their own race.  
The day had passed in a flurry of paperwork, bad coffee and scowling. Any unlucky interns that had come his way had went away in tears. Character building he called it. If they couldn’t handle him how would they stand against human authorities. Janos had been entirely too amused, grinning in from the door, amusement peaking when he had glared at him.   
It was six by the time he left his office, thoroughly spent with a list of appointments he had to meet tomorrow. But for now he would just get home and sleep. Perhaps he could order from the new Thai place he had been meaning to try. His office was not that far from his flat, as he walked down the familiar streets, he was hit with a sense of nostalgia as he saw the scruffy neighborhood park. The sun was setting and warm when he decided to not go home, choosing instead to enter it and sit on a bench, watching the children play. Atleast they had achieved this, if nothing else. His own childhood had been spent being moulded into a weapon. Never again, neither for himself nor for any other would he allow this fate. It was important, it lent meaning to the pile of papers sitting on his desk. If Emma called him a sentimental fool, so be it. Maybe he would call mama today and talk to her again. The events of yesterday had thrown a shadow upon his day, but it had strengthened the resolve building in his head. He would never be helpless again, not if he could help it.   
He got up as dusk lengthened the shadows of the day, perhaps, perhaps it would make sense to investigate more deeply into the happenings of the city. He had a lot to protect after all. 

He walked into his building, nodding briefly to acknowledge Mrs Hammond as he passed her by in the hallway. Entering the elevator, not for the first time he reminded himself that it needed repairing, as it rattled a little as it sped quickly to the second floor. He realised that something was wrong as soon as he entered his apartment. Well then.

 

X

 

It was probably a good idea to get ice-cream, he felt a lot better with a big scoop of chocolate and caramel in him. It was almost enough to erase the tensions of the day. It helped that Raven was a pig and she had pink yellow blobs of ice-cream all over her face all over her face and hands. Somethings would never change. There was something very comforting about this slightly run down icecream parlour with its garish seats and decorations. He could see a park off in the distance through the glass windows. It was comfortable being in a mutant neighbourhood, without judgement and fear. I was why they were here. And because he needed to shift base to the city for a while, just until they could figure out what was happening.   
He let his telepathy relax, lightly touching upon the thoughts of people around him, taking comfort in their everyday mundane concerns. To his right Moira worked very efficiently demolishing her cookie dough cup. Suddenly he was jarred by..Erik? It had to be him, he could feel the flare of his power light up like a beacon, tinged with, was it alarm? Fuck, he searched around the area around him only to feel..nothing? Psionic blockers fuckfuck fuck. He was getting up before he knew it. 

“What? What is wrong?” he could hear Raven asking as they got up in alarm?  
“Boss?”   
He ignored them as he headed out and keyed in the car’s ignition, merely projecting with his mind what he had felt. He could feel their shock and then their resolve hardening as they prepared to storm Erik’s building. Hopefully he would forgive Charles’s invasion this time. Really, circumstances would not let him catch a break.   
The car rounded off around the block with a screech, he could still feel Erik’s mind, strangely calm? As they ran up the stairs of the building, Moira cocking her gun in the rear as they prepared to break in, Alex was just about to break down the door when Charles felt Erik’s mutation light up again, and all their weapons were being snatched away from them, suspended in the air, even as Alex was thrown back by his vest and thrown against the wall. But before Raven’s knives could descend upon them and tear them into ribbons, Charles reached and stopped their assailant. 

The weapons dropped to the floor with a clatter.   
Erik’s mind was incandescent. His mutation wove through his mind in a delicious and dangerous mix of deep focus and a steely calm. Underneath which, however, thrummed a pulse of real anger. 

“Charles!” the exclamation in his head made his voice wince. He was hit by a barrage of emotions, surpriseangerhurtconfusionbetrayal assaulting his mind in a dizzying rush.

“Calm down my friend.. ”   
“You tried to get me killed?” he could feel incredulity and hurt roiling off in waves from him.  
“Of course not!” He pushed the truth of his words into Erik’s mind to make him believe. “We came to rescue you, could you please, umm open up the door and let us in?” 

He withdrew from his head as he felt him come closer, suspicion still souring his thoughts, and finally the door opened to reveal a rather dishevelled Erik. Charles stared for a moment before he realized that he was being a boor and his teammates were just getting up from the floor in a rather strong imitation of a zombie apocalypse. 

“What the fuck Erik” Raven, of course was furious as she pushed past Charles to no doubt choke her victim by his collar. Said victim merely raised an eyebrow as he moved out of her range, anticipating Raven’s movement, lightly using her own momentum against her to trip her over , his elbow jamming her right in the back, sending her sprawling. 

Charles cleared his throat as he felt the satisfaction coming from Erik and the complete outrage from Raven. The rest of them were terribly amused. However before things could take a turn to the south, he intervened.

“Yes well..ummm..we were here to..rescue you”

Erik actually snorted as he took them in, quirking an eyebrow at Charles as he withdrew to let them in. They shuffled awkwardly into a room that seemed only to stare wide eyed at four men lying unconscious on the floor amongst a debris of metal. 

“Erm..” Alex said helpfully, as Moira prodded one of them with a foot. 

Charles turned around to see Erik glaring at him, he was never going to catch a break, was he?

“How did you even know I was in trouble? Have you been spying on me?”

“Not exactly you see, it is just that we were in the neighbourhood and I felt you..”

“Felt me?” Erik completely bemused, while Raven snorted from the corner. Apparently thoughts of revenge were swept aside in favour of enjoying her brother’s obvious discomfort. 

“Yes well, it was rather redundant, seeing that you can manage quite well on your own”.

Erik scoffed as he proceeded to sit down on his armchair, the rest of them took that as a tacit invitation to sit down on the sofa, leaving Charles standing awkwardly near the door. Moira only patting his shoulder in commiseration as she passed him by. 

“Well, do you know who these men are?” he ventured carefully, “I couldn’t get a read on them”...”psionic blockers” he answered in reply to Erik’s raised eyebrows. They were really quite expressive. 

“I don’t know, they did not really give me a chance to ask them, tried attacking me with some sort of shocking device as soon as I walked in”.

“How did you get away” Jean asked, “why didn’t they just shoot you with guns?”

“Because they know what he did that night..they know you can control metal?”

“I don’t think so, they still had metal on their bodies. That’s how I knew they were there”.

“Or they misjudged you entirely” Charles said suddenly, realization dawning on him, “civilians don’t usually react quite as quickly as you obviously did. Taking on four trained men in an ambush and coming out unscathed..who are you exactly Erik?”

“What, you mean you didn’t read my mind when you took over that night? I really don’t think that’s any of your business Charles, I owe you no explanation whatsoever”.

“I am afraid it is Mr Lehnsherr, and that you do, if it turns out that you are not who you say, then we must consider the possibility of you working with a rival syndicate” Moira interjected coolly. 

Charles could feel the temperature in the room rising, he took a second to consider, he had not felt anything malevolent from Erik’s head when he had been there, not even when he understood who they were, apart from surprise and apprehension. It was highly unlikely that he was..

“Sit down everyone and shut up for a moment” he said lightly, but his voice brooked no room for opposition. His people looked at him in surprise, Raven looked like she might object but thought better of it, shutting her mouth with an audible snap. Erik stared at him completely bemused. 

Charles extended his telepathy, reaching out into the mind of the unconscious men. It was difficult reading their mind, like attempting to read a book in a dark room. But their memories were unhelpful, they were mostly mercenaries who had been hired by a group without disclosing any information. They just had to go in and retrieve a mutant who could control metal. They had been told he was a civilian. He was to be brought back alive and dropped near the South side port in the car. Quick and anonymous. He quickly wiped their minds and planted in their heads a strong need to repent their past crimes. He withdrew then, everyone was staring at him expectantly. 

“It might not be my business Erik, but it could help explain why you were attacked. None of their memories is very helpful. I don’t know if they are after you because you helped me or because you are a mutant, both possibilities are equally disturbing. 

“I can look after myself” came the cool reply.

“I can see that of course, but I also feel responsible nonetheless. The least I can do is offer sanctuary”. 

“You mean an insurance that I won’t turn against you”

“How did you even arrive at that conclusion? I merely offered safety?” Charles exclaimed.

“No”

“No? Just no?”

“No”

“You are being ridiculous”

“..”

“Seriously? Oh my god Moira talk to him, he is being impossible!” he nearly stomped his foot in frustration. 

Erik’s eyebrow twitched, “are you a child Charles?”

“Says the stubborn five year old. Atleast I don’t depend upon toys to knock people out”

“No you just your telepathy to take away their agency”

“That was once!!!! And I have apologized!!!” he glared at Erik who glared right back, “forgive me if I am not inclined to...”

“Guys!” Raven interjected. “Stop, seriously. Charles if he doesn’t want to come with us, it is his wish, he knows the risk” she looked up at her brother who was rather red and looked like he would start sulking any second. Joy.

“And Erik honestly, you are an idiot to not accept his offer. These men” she prodded one with her shoe, “are obviously not an accident. They are either part of some rival gang or they are Trask’s, either way they won’t stop here. You are not going to be able to stop them everytime”.

Erik stared at her consideringly. “I can’t leave, I have my job and my responsibilities..”

“You can’t perform them if you are dead” Moira interjected brusquely. 

“If suppose I did agree to this” he ignored Charles’s hopeful expression. That man was a menace. “How long will this last?”

“Just as long as we can figure out who is doing this. It won’t take us long Erik, we are very good at what we do” earnest blue eyes beamed at him. 

He ignored him in favour of speaking to Mystique who seemed more like an adult and less like a puppy, “I will need to call my office and call in sick. How long should I pack for?”

Charles was looking at him with a hurt expression as his lips thinned into a line. They were very red. It was good that Erik had resolved to ignore him.

“A week should do it” came her short reply, as she looked in amusement between him and Charles. 

Erik got up without a word going into his room to pack.

“Right, so first things first” Charles said, “we need to get this room back into order. I have erased their memories of this encounter. Moira, can you call Logan and tell him to send a team to scout out the South side port, I think we have a lead. Alex, across the block there is a black fiat parked under a tree, be a dear and get it to Logan please. Raven can you call Sean and ask him to set up the safe house in the city? Yes thank you. Oh wait, also please help Jean get this trash off the floor, I believe officer Armando will appreciate it greatly. Okay then loves, chop chop!”

By the time Erik emerged from his bedroom, Charles had called up Janos to send a car along with a clean up team. It would not do to leave the house looking like a warzone. 

“Oh hello, are you ready to leave?”

Erik just quirked an eyebrow and proceeded to ignore him as he picked up an office bag and hung it on his shoulder, choosing to stand near the doorway, staring intently at his phone. 

“Ermm..well, the car should be along in five, I hope you have everything you need”

Charles thought that he could hear crickets chirp in the background as he was slighted yet again. This was absurd, beyond absurd. He resisted an impulse to stomp on Erik’s foot. 

The sudden ringing on his phone signified Janos’s arrival. He sighed, “lets go, car’s here”.

“Erik..” he said before he could help himself, the object of his consternation turned and paused at the doorway, eyebrows raised in question. 

“I hope you get pooped on the head by a pigeon! You pompous obstinate prig!!” and proceeded to storm past him, stomping on his foot as he passed. 

The resultant curse and the spark of surprise and indignation that flared up in his mind felt really good. 

“What the fuck Charles!” Erik snarled, as he followed after him, enraged and appalled. 

Charles could not quite help keep the smile off his face as he hurried away. If they were going to act like children, he was not going to hold back. Around the mulberry bush they would go.


	4. The one in which Erik is uncomfortable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry sorry, I am lazier than I thought I was. Who knew? 
> 
> I am sorry for the very abrupt ending. 
> 
> Please let me know if you want me to improve upon something! That would be very helpful.

Erik stared out of the window rather pointedly as Charles chatted amiably with Janos. The non descripit black suv which had picked them up, sped through the town at an alarming speed. He could clearly detect two more cars that were following them at a distance, keeping up with them with ease, if not for Charles’s calm indifference he might have worried. It was handy to have a human radar around. He glanced at the insufferable prat surreptitiously, the man had the audacity to look cheerful and beautiful after playing havoc with Erik’s emotions. His discomposure when Charles turned suddenly to catch his staring was completely warranted. He turned his head away so fast he gave himself whiplash. He could feel his gaze burning into the back of his head, a probing sensation knocking at the periphery of his thoughts.

“Stop that” he snapped, turning just in time to see Charles’s hurt expression. 

“I am sorry my friend, sometimes I can unconsciously..”

“Just stay out of my head” he bit out.

“Of course” the telepath replied with a forced smile.

The silence which reigned in the car after their exchange was tense. He felt a little guilty for his outburst, but he would be damned before he would admit it. He could feel rather than see Janos’s displeasure over his behaviour, or perhaps the glaring via rearview mirror made it rather obvious. Erik ignored him as well as he could, it seemed that he had been doing a lot of that lately. He barely noticed as the car slowed to a halt in front of a rather run down office. The peeling building with its weather beaten appearance did not scream mob haven, but perhaps that was the point. 

“Will you please excuse us for a moment my friend, we need to do this thing real quick before we take you to the safe house” Charles said neutrally as he opened the door and moved to slip out of his seat. “You could come with us or you..” 

“I will come”

“Very well then”

They walked into the building, which was even more trashy inside with its potted ferns and mouldy sofas. A big garish sign welcomed them as they walked into the main room.

“Your front is a pest control company” Erik said, trying to stamp down his amusement. 

“Among other things” came the distracted reply as they moved up the stairs.

“Not being very subtle are you?” 

He heard Charles snort as they finally reached the landing, 

“You would be surprised” Janos said from behind Erik, causing him to jump a little, all his attention directed to the man in front of him. 

“Right, well, Erik if you would be so kind enough to sit here” Charles said motioning towards a sofa, “we will be out in a jiffy, Janos here can keep you company while you wait..”

“It is not necessary, I do not need a babysitter”

“It is non negotiable I am afraid” Charles said coolly, his face in a polite mask, shocking Erik out of his humor. 

“If I did want to run” he said, trying to fight down a feeling of betrayal rising in him, “you would not be able to stop me” 

“I am sorry my friend” the other man said, “I can, as you know and I will. But I hope that won’t be necessary. There is a vending machine to your right, and a washroom to the left, I will be back shortly” he smiled at Erik briefly and turned around to leave.

“What the fuck Charles? He snarled, the metal in the room vibrating, he could feel anger and hurt surging up in him as he looked at the man staring at him unimpressed, “you said protect..”

“I promised you protection and I am giving you protection. I however did not promise you trust, and till the time that you have earned it, I suggest you put a reign over your presumptuous and arrogant behaviour and realise that this is in fact, not about you”

Erik stared at him in shock for a second, “I never asked you for help” he finally bit out, “it was you, entitled and..”

“Boss”? Azazel’s voice sounded from down the hallway, interrupting his tirade and successfully distracting Charles who was growing redder by the minute. 

“In a minute” Charles took a deep breath and sighed.

He turned back to face Erik again, his expression a little tired, running his hand across his forehead “Erik can we please not do this right now, this meeting is time sensitive and if we do not move now we will lose our lead”

Erik gritted his teeth in an attempt to be civil, “we will talk about this when you come back, you don’t get to do this Charles”

“Of course” he answered, offering him a tight distant smile as he walked away, leaving Erik with an inexplicable pang.  
He turned around to see Janos already sitting down on the sofa, picking up a Cosmopolitan from the stack of magazines on the centre table, ignoring him for all purposes. Of course.

Erik walked over to the window and opened his phone. 5 missed calls from Emma. He sighed as he called her, would he ever catch a break. 

X

Charles walked into the room which was already occupied by his inner circle minus Logan, who was handling operations at the port. The atmosphere was tense and he could feel repressed anger souring the air. It dampened his already dour mood. He had behaved abominably again, but something about Erik’s harsh rejection of his telepathy had hit too close to home. He understood his paranoia, but it still rankled.

“All right there Charles?” Raven asked him, looking at him with a worried look on her face. For a second they were children again, and all he wanted to do was melt into her side and bitch about boys over a shared tub of chocolate fudge. Cliches had something going for them after all. 

“Of course darling” he smiled at her, “well then people, lets get this show on the road shall we?” 

By the time they were done finalising the logistics, thirty minutes had passed and he could feel an irate Erik waiting for him outside. As everyone shuffled out of the room, Moira laid a bracing hand on Charles’s shoulder, “we will get them, don’t worry. I won’t let Logan do anything too reckless” she smiled at him. They were interrupted by Raven who loudly thumped his back, “Don’t fret princess, go home. We will be back in two hours after kicking ass!!” and walked out of the room before Charles could do more than growl. Moira left him with one last amused glance.   
When he finally came out, he found Erik standing stiffly near the window, glaring at the door from which his people had just left. Sensing him approach, Janos stood up from his comfortable place on the sofa. 

“Ready to go then boss?”

“Yes.. ” he looked up at Erik who was looking determinedly on the floor, “Erik, if you are ready?”

“You ask as if I have a choice, how very courteous of you” and stalked to the door without a word. 

Charles sighed as he followed with Janos, he was in for a long night.

X

The car ride was decidedly more awkward than the previous one. Charles sat at his side, gazing out of the window, serious and withdrawn. They were almost out of the main city now, street lights sped past them at an almost hypnotic uniformity. 

“Charles” Erik managed to say,

“Hmm?” the telepath turned towards him with a distracted expression.

“We need to talk..” 

“Of course” he was interrupted by Charles, “hold on to your thoughts for a minute darling” he said sounding distant, a neutral plastic smile in place. 

Darling?! He balked at the term of endearment for a second, feeling his face heat up a little, the audacity! He was about to open his mouth and protest against this sudden familiarity when Charles placed a single finger against his lips, effectively silencing any complains, his eyes still trained outside the car window. Erik’s face felt hot, very hot, he could feel the tips of his ears burn a little as he most definitely fought the need to take the offending finger in his mouth. But before he could act on any of his wishes, the digit was being drawn away from him with a startled gasp.

“I am so sorry Erik, I was communicating with the others and..” Charles’s voice trailed off as he looked away completely embarrassed.

“It’s fine” Erik said, clearing his throat, “just..”

“I will not do it again, of course” Charles interjected, a slight smile curling his lips.

Erik blinked away hastily. 

“You wished to talk to me about our arrangements yes?” 

Erik nodded “I will not be babysat Charles”

“Of course not, but it is not so simple my friend. You are in danger..”

“And I could be a danger” 

“Not particularly no, I would know” Charles smiled genuinely at him. Erik could feel something heavy dissolve in his chest.

“Then why did you ask Janos to guard me?”

“Well..” here his smile turned sheepish, “it was a mere formality really Erik, and then when you refused it irked me. You keep refusing everything I do for you!” 

If Erik did not know better he would have been surprised that the mob boss could sound so distinctly petulant, but as it were he could feel an exasperated smile tugging at his lips.

“You are ridiculous Charles!”

Charles beamed beatifically at him, “And you are a pain in the arse”

Erik choked out a laugh in surprise, shaking his head in disbelief as he turned away, feeling lighter than he had in hours. They rode on in silence for sometime. A quick glance at Charles revealed that he had the same faraway look as before. He wondered not for the first time what his exact range was. Emma could reach him some five miles away, but that was that. Charles’s range must have been exponentially wider. He wondered what had occupied all his attention at this point. Could he sit here and coordinate their movements from this distance? He grudgingly accepted that it was rather impressive. 

They finally came to a stop outside a ….farm?? He look up at Charles in surprise as the other man grinned at him.

“Welcome to Blandings my friend, it is going to be your home for the many days to come!”

Erik merely looked around wide eyed as they drove up the gravelly road. He could smell fresh hay and manure as they got down from the car in front of a modest farmhouse. It was wooden, brightly lit from within and surrounded by thick trees. He could see a few more small houses in the distance, arranged uniformly around a wide pen which housed..were those cows? He turned back to look at Charles who was already walking up the stairs and knocking at the front door of the main house. Janos was staring at him with a amused smirk on his face.

“What?” Erik barked out

But the black haired ghost of Chritmases past just walked past him with a smugly superior air. 

The front door opened and they were greeted by a boy who seemed overly delighted to see them. 

“Charles” he exclaimed happily, “you made it!!! How are you Janos you old cow” before turning to Erik with a big smile on his face, “and you must be the grinch!” he heard Charles snort loudly,”I have heard so much about you”

Erik looked at him bemusedly, he was evidently surrounded by idiots. Charles was running a circus of fools, it was no wonder, considering the man was the biggest one of them all.   
“Delighted” he said coolly, he would be the adult if no one else would, “and you are?”

“Sean Cassidy, at your service” he said with a flourish. “Come on in fellows, I have been waiting for you since forever.”

The room was cosy and light. Charles flung himself on a sofa dramatically and sighed. Erik sat next to him, taking in the surroundings. The lack of order in the room was giving Erik a headache. The interior of the house smelt of baking and polished wood. Rugs were thrown on the floor, interspersed with two rocking chairs and a divan. Sean had disappeared into the kitchen in the next room while Janos had found refuge upstairs. Charles was looking at him with a very amused expression when he finally came to.

“What?” he snapped, out of habit rather than any real ire. 

“Not what you were expecting is it?” the infuriating man smirked at him.

“I think you confused the Godfather with father Christmas”

“Does that make me Santa Claus?”

“That depends, can you grant wishes?” 

“Darling that completely depends, I am afraid you are on the naughty list this year”

“Who wants pie?” Sean’s cheerful voice interrupted them as he came over from the kitchen. Erik hadn’t even realised how close he had moved to Charles till he jumped back in surprise, clearing his throat loudly, he tore his eyes away from a rapidly reddening Charles, and focused on the delicious smell wafting towards them. 

Ignorant of any tension in the room the insipid red haired boy came in wearing ridiculous mittens and sat down on an armchair. 

“Apple and cinnamon” he beamed at them.

Erik could have patted him almost affectionately on his head in thanks. 

“This is lovely Sean thank you” Charles the ever effervescent source of joy bubbled.

But as soon as Erik moved to touch the pie he was stopped by two angry mittens that slapped his hands away, “no! You must wait for it to cool first!”

He snatched his hand back insulted and about to bite back a retort when a warm hand placed on his shoulder completely distracted him.   
“Come on Erik, let me show you around in the meantime. Sean could you please see to it that Janos is fed? We have a long night ahead of us still. Tell him we will leave as soon as I am back?” 

“What about you Charles? Will you not eat” the small fire engine frowned at the man, “have you been..”

“That’s enough Sean thank you, I am afraid I am rather full at the moment” Charles said and turned to leave, “come on Erik, let me introduce you to the empress.” 

They ventured out in the night together, breathing in the night air deeply. It felt cool and fresh against their faces after the cosy atmosphere within the house. The ground was wet with dew and rain beneath their shoes. Erik looked around feeling a little out of sorts. He really had not expected this. 

“What is this Charles?” he asked the man walking in front of him.

“This, my dear, is another cover”

“An animal farm?” he couldn’t help the smile that came to his lips, “I see you specialise in metaphor”

“That” Charles smiled at him widely, “and dairy products. We provide the best milk in Genosha”

“You can’t be serious”

“Oh we are very serious Erik” Charles winked at him playfully, “you would not believe how invisible milkmen are. No one spares them a second glance.”

Erik continued to stare at him skeptically.

“Oh we are here”, Charles said excitedly as they neared the pen. Erik turned to see three cows munching serenely in the open air. He had never seen these cud chewing giants up close and was rather disgruntled and dismayed when Charles dragged him inside with no preamble. 

“Erik meet Jessie, Mindy and Moo Moo, ladies, this is Erik. He is a friend. Mostly”

The rest of the introduction was lost in Erik’s laughter, “I am sorry” he managed, “could you say Moo Moo again” 

“I beg your pardon” Charles exclaimed in mock outrage, “I will have you know that Moo moo” and Erik really couldn’t help himself as he gave into mirth again. There was something very ridiculous about the way Moo Moo sounded in the posh accent, that sent him over the edge. The accent was made to discuss china and world domination over tea, not for enunciating absurd onomatopoeic names that were the prerogative of dumb five year olds. But before he could voice his thoughts aloud, the cow with the silly name came up close to them, Erik certainly did not yelp as he jumped back. She ignored him completely as she nosed Charles affectionately, leaving behind a generous helping of wet grass and dirt on his cardigan. 

“Oh my beautiful girl, I missed you too!!!” he laughed as he petted her fondly. Erik watched in horror as the other two cows came towards him rapidly, not ready to miss out on Charles. As if anyone would. He watched in a distant sort of dismay as the telepath was surrounded by three rather affectionate but enormous herbivores, who seemed intent on licking him and jostling him lightly with their heads in turn. 

“Erik, come here, come say hello”

If he took a step back in reflexively, it was because of his instinctive sense of self preservation. It was an evolutionary trait. He took another discreet step towards the gate. 

“Don’t be ridiculous darling” Charles said moving towards him, the three milk monsters following him closely, stuck in his orbit much helplessly. Erik could empathise. 

“Charles” he warned as he took another step back.

“Erik” another bright, mischievous smile greeted him. He took another step back, slightly breathless, only to slip on the wet grass there and fall flat on his back.

“Oofff” he said intelligently as all wind was knocked out of him.He tried getting up from the damp ground, both his back and dignity hurt. He could hear Charles laughing as he came near him and gave him a hand, “oh my friend” he said as he pulled him up, “you should have seen your face”

Erik should have asked him to see his own face first, covered as it was in wet grass and dirt, hair sticking out messily because of the magic of cow saliva, when he stopped short of any remark. Charles was standing right in front of him, flushed with laughter, blue eyes alit with amusement. There were freckles on his nose. His eyes were drawn almost automatically to his mouth which was very red and slightly open. He heard Charles gasp lightly, his lips parting further. Erik leant forward, breathing a little shallow, he could smell him….

When suddenly a rough wet tongue swiped across the right side of his face. 

“What the fuck!” he jumped aside in alarm

“Mindy!!” Charles admonished the offending creature gently, “we have talked about this”

“I beg your pardon, did you just say you have talked about this?” Mindy the pervert just stared at him mournfully.

“I am a telepath Erik, honestly”

“She is a cow!”

Charles stared at him patiently.

“You are a fucking disney princess Charles”

“Atleast I didn’t steal someone’s Christmas”

“You are absolutely ridiculous Charles” he could not help some of the warmth that crept into his voice.

“Well love, I suggest you get acquainted with them quickly”

“Why” Erik asked suspiciously, not trusting the glint that had appeared in Charles’s eyes

“Why because you are their new caretaker of course!” he sounded entirely too gleeful

“What the fuck?!”


End file.
